More on case mods...

A tablesaw with a small-toothed blade - there are specific blades for cutting laminate and plastic - should work, providing you can safely and evenly feed the case through.

Another option might be a high speed cut Japanese saw which would give you a lot more control over your cut. I have a Dozuki saw, and used it on my Takky CC with great success, but the brass back can get in the way if you're making a long cut.

but I'm talking IIci/IIcx/Q700 lengths. I've never used a hand saw and come out with a straight line. Lord knows people have tried in vain to help.

I'll go with the table saw. I assume a slow RPM to prevent burn/melts, yes?

Jack

A table saw should work fine, assuming you use a fine-toothed blade. I've cut Lexan with a table saw before without problems, so case plastics should be fine. Table saws generally run at a slower RPM than Dremels etc., so you shouldn't have to worry about melting the plastic.

I guess we could get down to calculating the edge speed of various sized blades to find out what moves slowest at "normal" RPMs. Depending on your particular saw, I'd guess it to spin at a few hundred RPM, though if it's variable it'd be a great help. Using a smaller diameter blade at the same RPM should produce slower edge speeds. A 9" vs 12" blade should make a large difference in edge speed.

There was a trick I read in a scroll saw books about putting a strip of masking tape along the length of plastic you were going to cut.
It apparently helps keep the plastic from melting. The author only speculated as to why this was - maybe the glue lubricates or cleans the blade before plastic gums it up and increases friction and thereby melting - but said it worked wonders when cutting plexiglass.

Taping also prevents tear-out on veneer and melamine. I doubt you'll encounter tear-out on a plastic case , but if it helps keep the blade cooler, you'll gain an advantage... especially if you can't change the speed of your table saw.

...and I hope you're taking pictures as this progresses!

I've never seen a table saw with variable speed. The only way to vary the speed is probably to use different size blades -- larger = faster, smaller = slower.

The key to preventing burning & melting when cutting plastics is to 1) use the proper blade, 2) make sure it's good and sharp, 3) keep the work from wobbling (which causes blade edge friction), and 4) don't try to cut too fast.

If you think about the mechanics of a rotary cutting blade, it's basically a bunch of little chisels that nibble away at the material that's being cut. If the work is pushed into the blade faster than the chisels can make a decent cut, then the chisels are trying to dig out too much at a time and you get an excess of friction, which causes the plastic to melt. So it's best to practice on a test piece to see what the optimum speed is.

But I'd agree with others that good technique with a hand saw would probably be the best way to go about it. Mistakes happen pretty fast with power tools.